The days of bubble baths, they end too soon

Preaching to Ronald

Last night, I ran into one of my 'favorite' characters, Ronald Mc Donald. So I began preaching to him about a plan I have, to change all the beef products at McDo's to veggie burgers, and continue to use the special patented secret seasoning so that people are still addicted to the taste. This changeover can happen around the world throughout 2009. Healthier bodies and minds, and a positive change for our planet and agriculture will result. The deal was sealed, as you can see by the big thumbs up from Ronald, and the rest will be history.....

My Guys

Books & Books

At the book signing, Books & Books, Coral Gables Florida.

I wrote chapter 6 in "Women Moving Forward: Justice,

Toward a System of Right Relationships"

with editor Raul Fernandez-Calienes,

whom I also know from the Broward County Human Trafficking Working Group

Florida

Sighting Manatees with my sons.

Always incredible!

Good Morning

This is a staircase I made outside my backdoor.

It's on the side of a mountain in Antipolo, Victoria Valley.

It was still there, after all these years.

The last step says INGAT (Be Careful!)

a God Rock

I had the chance to visit the home we lived in for over a decade. Here is the stone in front of the house, that I realized gave me much inspiration, both artistically and spiritually. Do you believe in deriving spiritual inspiration from a rock? There is much insight to be had from rocks and stones (they've been around a lot longer than we have). I feel like I "cultivated" this rock, as I watered and planted around it, and that it shed it's 'light' on me.
If you look at many of my paintings, you can pick up on the inspiration that I took from this rock, and others.

Revisiting Past Dreams & Plans

I was able to revisit a piece of land that we nearly bought in 1999, before being redirected to go to the United States. This is a very large area of multiple lots, owned by a bank. They were about to sell to CCDF at a great price, and at the last minute they changed their mind on selling, unexplainably, but we knew that God's hand was in it. This would have been "pioneering" in the extreme to cultivate this roughed, mountainous piece of property. It has a great view of the Taktak river and overview of the metropolis of Manila.

God knows what's best.

Driving is dangerous in Manila

it's always best to be cautious

Kanlungan Center for Street Children, Manila, Philippines

MAYOR LIM IS BACK!

"Go ahead, make my day, !"

one of the many girls at the center. they are so precious

Paintings by Street Children

The Street Kids

I took these pictures of some of the kids at the Kanlungan Center for Street Children in Manila, our partner ministry. I would like Mark to continue to do a series of portraits of Filipinos, since the one that we had at the show (and sold) received a lot of feedback. So, while I was taking these photos, other folks began to throw jokes at us (Filipinos are REAL JOKERS): they claimed I was training these kids in how to take mug shots so that they'll be ready once they get arrested, and that they were preparing for their future in jail!! These kid's tender spirits were already transformed by the Holy Ghost, so they all could laugh at the joke because it is less of a reality for them.

Whatshisname

Good old whats-his-name visited Mark's art show at the Rockwell Center, Makati, in July 2007.

If you know who this is, leave a comment on the blog.

Dominique

at our art show

& Starbucks of course

This summer in Manila, I was able to finally meet with Dominique, the son of Cathy our

co-worker. Cathy died unexpectedly in March 2007. Dominique is the only child, and his father is an American soldier who abandoned them, just like Cathy's own father had done, in previous military times. Dominique is 3/4 American but has no American rights. Please pray for us as we pursue God's plan for Dominique's rights. Pray for him in his time of grieving and adjusting to a new life. He is living in a dorm and taking studies to become a nurse.

Lotsa religious telabision in da Pilipines

no wonder people are confused

Television in Manila is so much more interesting....

I spent the summer in Manila, and was able to watch cable television. It's amazing how much of the WORLD you learn about in a foreign country!! Not like here in the US where we live in a sludge bowl of media--plenty of channels and no content! And we are so ignorant of the world.

Japanese Guy (plenty-o-kung fu fightin)
The BBC is always great (albeit a snooze factor sometimes)
Was this Al Jezera? I don't know, but I enjoyed learning about the pilgrimages and seeing the Holy sites of Saudi Arabia.
"hey friend, whassup?"
They also had channels from Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and China.

Lots of dance

For the Green League: a sampling of images for consideration for the Green Directory

Asleigh prints his postcards on "Astrobright" card stock, as you can see in these images, but we can get permission to reprint them in just black ink, on whatever recycled paper we end up using. I have more than 100 appropriate "pot-shots" to choose from, if you all are interested in obtaining these for the directory.

Let me know your feedback and comments!

As I mentioned in the Green League post, our shop- Mission Gifts- will be a distributor of Ashleigh Brilliant products, in the near future. I love his stuff! I was first introduced to his postcards in Berkeley 25 years ago, and I kept a flipbook of my favorite postcards, as a Laugh Therapy Kit during the dark days of the Revolution in the Philippines (he has some that are very lighthearted--more than 10,000 now).